Art News. Vasari Codex

article news schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 23 link 2 artists

Gabrielle Goliath Discusses Her Canceled South African Pavilion as She Shows New Work in a Venice Church

South African artist Gabrielle Goliath’s planned pavilion for the South Africa Pavilion at the Venice Biennale was canceled by culture minister Gayton McKenzie, who deemed it “highly divisive.” Despite the cancellation, Goliath has installed her work, a multi-screen iteration of her ongoing performance series *Elegy*, at the Chiesa di Sant’Antonin, half a mile from the Giardini. The new piece mourns victims of atrocities including South African femicide, the Herero and Nama genocide, and the death of Gazan poet Hiba Abu Nada, killed by an Israeli airstrike. Goliath stated that McKenzie explicitly demanded removal of the Palestinian content while deeming the other subjects acceptable.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 19 link 2 artists

Abbas Akhavan Transforms the Canada Pavilion Into a Greenhouse, Daring Viewers to Leave Behind Their Preconceptions

Artist Abbas Akhavan has transformed the Canada Pavilion at the Venice Biennale into a functioning greenhouse for his exhibition "Entre chien et loup." The pavilion now houses a 6,000-gallon pool containing giant Victoria water lilies, with modifications including grow lights, water misters, a new ventilation system, and structural reinforcements to support the 25-ton water tank. The installation evokes Victorian-era Wardian cases and London's Crystal Palace, but Akhavan emphasizes that his interest in the lilies began intuitively, not as a commentary on colonialism or empire. The project, developed with curator Kim Nguyen, involved collaboration with Kew Gardens and the Orto Botanico di Padova to cultivate the plants, and the outcome remains uncertain as the lilies may thrive or wither over the exhibition's six-month run.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 17 link 11 artists

Dirty carpets to Palestinian skateboarders: a decade of Peckham 24 – in pictures

Peckham 24, a photography festival in south London, celebrates its 10th anniversary with a special edition titled "The Eras Edition," running from 15-17 May at Copeland Park and the Bussey Building. Founded a decade ago by artist-curator duo Jo Dennis and Vivienne Gamble as a fringe event of Photo London, the festival began as a 24-hour pop-up showcasing emerging talent. This year's edition explores the theme of time through works by artists including Kristina Yenza (documenting youth in wartime Ukraine), Vinca Petersen (rural community life on the Isle of Skye), Max Ferguson (the London College of Communication tower block), Julie F Hill (space telescope data visualizations), Mark Duffy (carpet detritus in the Houses of Parliament), and Maen Hammad (Palestinian skateboarders).

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museum exhibitions schedule May 5, 2026 visibility 18 link 4 artists

With Nearly 30,000 Clay Earth Bricks, Dana Awartani Remakes History in the Saudi Arabia Pavilion

Dana Awartani, a Jeddah- and New York-based artist of mixed Palestinian, Saudi, Jordanian, and Syrian descent, has created the Saudi Arabia Pavilion at the Venice Biennale using nearly 30,000 clay earth bricks. The installation, titled "May your tears never dry, you who weep over stones," replicates traditional mosaic motifs sourced from over 20 cultural heritage sites across the Arab world that have been destroyed by human conflict. Awartani emphasizes collaboration, crediting numerous skilled craftsmen—economic migrants to Saudi Arabia—who worked alongside her, and her practice blends formal training at Central St. Martins with Islamic geometry and illumination studies in Turkey.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 5, 2026 visibility 17 link 4 artists

Venice exhibition of site-specific films aims to capture the hyper stimulating times we are living in

The Fondazione In Between Art Film presents "Canicula," the third and final exhibition in its Trilogy of Uncertainties, opening on 6 May at the Complesso dell’Ospedaletto in Venice. Curated by Leonardo Bigazzi, the show features eight newly commissioned site-specific films that explore themes of excess, sensory overload, and geopolitical tension. Works include Roman Khimei and Yarema Malashchuk's "Affirmations" (2026), depicting fictional deathbed testimonies of Russian soldiers, Lawrence Abu Hamdan's "450XL: The Story of a Fugitive Sound" (2026) about a sonic attack in Belgrade, and Maya Watanabe's "Jarkov" (2025-26) reflecting on Arctic ice melt and Pleistocene remains.

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article local schedule May 5, 2026 visibility 20 link 4 artists

Salisbury Cathedral restores stained-glass treasure by Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris

Salisbury Cathedral has completed a two-year restoration of a stained-glass window designed by Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris. The 6.5-metre "Angels" window, depicting ministering and praising angels, was carefully removed in February 2024, cleaned, and fitted with protective glazing and oak frames. Head glazier Sam Kelly, who began as an apprentice at the cathedral 40 years ago, led the project alongside colleagues Vicky Pearce, Kate Kersey, and Alfie Durrant. Lost details were restored on backing glass rather than the original surface, and the window will be rededicated at an evensong service on 7 May.

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article culture schedule May 4, 2026 visibility 18 link 4 artists

In new play, Norval Morrisseau forgery scandal prompts questions about authenticity and Indigenous identity

A new play by Ojibway playwright Drew Hayden Taylor, *The Undeniable Accusations of Red Cadmium Light*, dramatizes the massive Norval Morrisseau art forgery scandal in Canada. The story follows an Indigenous art expert named Nazhi, her adopted daughter Beverly, and a journalist whose investigation into Morrisseau forgeries unravels Nazhi’s own identity and status. The play uses Morrisseau’s iconic imagery and the forensic analysis of paint colors to explore the blurred lines between authentic and fake, both in art and in personal identity. It concluded its run at Vancouver’s Firehall Arts Centre on 3 May.

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 29, 2026 visibility 21 link 10 artists

Who is Gladys Hynes? Show reinstates forgotten artist who once represented Britain at the Venice Biennale

The exhibition "Gladys Hynes: Radical Lives" opens this month at Charleston in Lewes, aiming to resurrect the career of Gladys Hynes (1888-1958), a forgotten artist who once represented Britain at the 1924 Venice Biennale. The show brings together 120 paintings, drawings, graphic designs, and sculptural pieces, including works by Hynes and her contemporaries, curated by Sacha Llewellyn. Hynes trained with Stanhope Forbes, Frank Brangwyn, and William Nicholson, worked with Roger Fry's Omega Workshops, associated with Wyndham Lewis and the Vorticists, and was commissioned by Ezra Pound to illustrate his Cantos. Despite her achievements, only one of her paintings is in a British public collection.

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trending_up market schedule Apr 28, 2026 visibility 13 link 2 artists

TikTok Shop adds ‘fine art’ category—will it disrupt the art market?

TikTok Shop has launched a new "fine art" category within its collectibles section, allowing artists to sell original artworks directly through shoppable videos, photographs, and livestreams. The category debuted with a three-hour live sale by artist Sophie Tea, who created a series of 20 oil paintings titled *Bric-a-Brac* and sold them for £2,800 each. The sale faced technical glitches—items added to baskets were prematurely marked as sold, causing confusion—and required workarounds for TikTok's pricing caps, automatic discounts, and shipping policies.

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trending_up market schedule Apr 27, 2026 visibility 23 link 4 artists

Michael Jackson Accessories Hit the Market Amid Biopic Buzz

GWS Auctions is offering nine pieces of Michael Jackson memorabilia in a May 2 sale, including a signed pair of the late singer's Florsheim loafers. The auction features 734 items from the collection of Prince Lorenzo de' Medici, with highlights such as a crystal-studded white glove from Jackson's 1984 Victory tour and Swarovski-embellished socks from his Dangerous tour. The loafers, authenticated by Jackson's assistant Rosemary Chavira, carry a starting bid of $7,500, and the sale coincides with the record-breaking opening weekend of a new Michael Jackson biopic.

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article news schedule Apr 24, 2026 visibility 23 link 4 artists

Venice Biennale jury ‘will not award artists from countries facing war crimes charges’

The jury of the Venice Biennale has announced it will not award prizes to artists from countries whose leaders face charges of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, a decision widely seen as targeting Russia and Israel. The five-member jury, appointed by the late curator Koyo Kouoh, stated its commitment to human rights and will exclude artists from nations whose governments are under ICC investigation when selecting winners of the Golden and Silver Lion awards for the 2026 edition, which opens on 9 May. The move follows controversy over Russia’s participation in the biennale, with the European Commission threatening to suspend a €2m grant due to Russia’s involvement, and Italy’s far-right government opposing the decision.

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 22, 2026 visibility 13 link 5 artists

‘I’m not trying to make him handsome’: Polly Samson on photographing husband David Gilmour – in pictures

Polly Samson, acclaimed author and wife of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, presents her first solo photography exhibition at Leica Gallery London, featuring intimate images taken over two decades of Gilmour on tour and in the studio. The show, titled 'Polly Samson – Between This Breath and Then,' runs until 7 May 2026 and coincides with the release of her book 'David Gilmour: Luck and Strange – Studio/Live,' published by Thames & Hudson. Samson's photographs capture candid moments of Gilmour, their family, and the creative process behind albums including 'Luck and Strange.'

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 12, 2026 visibility 17 link 17 artists

A festival of young European photography

The 16th edition of the Circulation(s) festival has launched at the Centquatre-Paris, showcasing the work of 26 emerging European photographers. Running from March 21 to May 17, 2026, the exhibition highlights contemporary projects that reflect the current intuitions, social commitments, and creative challenges facing the next generation of lens-based artists.

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article policy schedule Mar 19, 2026 visibility 22 link 1 artist

Fort Lauderdale Still Fighting Removal of Rainbow Crosswalks: ‘We Are the Last Man Standing’

Fort Lauderdale is the final Florida city continuing a legal challenge against a state directive to remove painted street art, specifically its rainbow crosswalks. A hearing is scheduled for May. The directive, part of Governor Ron DeSantis's Safe Streets program, prohibits pavement art with "social, political or ideological messages" and threatens cities with the loss of transportation funding if they do not comply.

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article culture schedule Jan 28, 2026 visibility 15 link 6 artists

bad bunny crossing the delaware ektor rivera

Artist Ektor Rivera has created a painting titled "The Discovery of Americans" (2025) that reimagines Emanuel Leutze's "Washington Crossing the Delaware" to celebrate Puerto Rican cultural figures, with Bad Bunny at the center. The work was commissioned by Miami art collector Seth Goldberg as a response to conservative criticism over Bad Bunny being selected to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show. The five-by-eight-foot painting places George Washington in the background while Puerto Rican icons including Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, and Roberto Clemente take center stage, with Bad Bunny draped in the Puerto Rican flag. The artwork has garnered over 2.3 million views on Instagram and Facebook.

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article policy schedule Jan 13, 2026 visibility 14 link 4 artists

south african culture mp denies censoring venice pavilion

The South African Ministry of Sport, Arts, and Culture has denied censoring its 2026 Venice Biennale pavilion after canceling a proposed artwork by artist Gabrielle Goliath on December 2. The work, part of Goliath's "Elegy" series curated by Ingrid Masondo, addressed sexual assault, femicide, the killings of women and queer people in South Africa, colonial-era genocide in Namibia, and included a tribute to Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada. Culture minister Gayton McKenzie initially called the piece "highly divisive" and linked to a polarizing international conflict, but a January 10 statement reframed the cancellation as a safeguard against foreign interference, alleging a foreign country attempted to fund or purchase the work to use the pavilion as a proxy for a geopolitical message about Israel's actions in Gaza.

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article news schedule Jan 12, 2026 visibility 22 link 7 artists

israel pavilion venice biennale belu simion fainaru protest

Israel will officially participate in the 2026 Venice Biennale, two years after its pavilion closed amid protests. The pavilion will be located in the Arsenale rather than its usual Giardini site, which is under construction. Representing Israel is sculptor Belu-Simion Fainaru, a Haifa-based artist and Israel Prize winner, who previously represented Romania at the 2019 Biennale. His pavilion, titled "Rose of Nothingness," will feature an installation about water inspired by poet Paul Celan's concept of black milk, with 16 pipes dripping black water into a pool. The pavilion is curated by Sorin Heller and Avital Bar-Shay. However, the Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) has renewed its protest, calling the pavilion the "Genocide Pavilion" on Instagram and demanding Israel's exclusion from the Biennale.

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rate_review review schedule Jan 12, 2026 visibility 18 link 5 artists

internet personality mackenzie thomas performance review

Internet personality MacKenzie Thomas staged a four-hour durational performance titled "I Said What I Said" in New York, where she read aloud every post she made on X over the past year, interspersed with personal essays. The performance, which sold out both New York showings, will travel to Los Angeles at Heavy Manners. Thomas recounted intimate details of her life, including a breakup, her dog's death, health struggles, and family dynamics, while notably omitting her success as an influencer with half a million followers.

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article news schedule Dec 12, 2025 visibility 23 link 4 artists

art basel artist arrest chalk performance

Performance artist Thomas Iser was arrested during Art Basel Miami Beach after spray-painting the words “Sorry to disturb, art in progress” on a window of the Miami Beach Convention Center using washable spray chalk. He invited his three-year-old daughter to add marks, and police charged him with criminal mischief. Iser, who has staged similar interventions globally, was handcuffed in front of his child and spent a night in jail before posting $600 bail. Miami-based artist Jillian Mayer witnessed the scene and documented it, noting the artist was in full body paint. Iser has since reframed the arrest as an unintended extension of the performance.

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trending_up market schedule Dec 10, 2025 visibility 15 link 3 artists

star wars artwork auction heritage record tom jung

A Star Wars painting by illustrator Tom Jung, used as the original half-sheet poster for *Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope* (1977), sold for $3.88 million at a Heritage Auctions sale of Hollywood memorabilia in Dallas. Consigned by the family of film producer Gary Kurtz, the work first appeared in national newspapers on May 13, 1977, and later became the film’s official promotional image. The sale broke the previous record for a Star Wars object, surpassing the $3.6 million paid for Darth Vader’s lightsaber prop.

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article local schedule Dec 4, 2025 visibility 16 link 5 artists

elizabeth street garden mamdani reconsider demolition

For 12 years, a one-acre community garden in Manhattan's Nolita neighborhood, Elizabeth Street Garden, has been locked in a battle with New York City officials over plans to build affordable housing on the site. The city, under former Mayor Eric Adams, had scheduled an eviction for March 2024 to make way for Haven Garden, a 123-unit senior housing development. After a last-minute impasse, the Adams administration abandoned those plans in June, instead rezoning three nearby sites. However, newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who campaigned on closing the garden for housing, has revived uncertainty. Just before Mamdani took office, the Adams administration permanently dedicated the land as public parkland, requiring state legislative approval for any future development.

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article news schedule Nov 26, 2025 visibility 14 link 5 artists

trump mamdani roosevelt salisbury portrait

New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani visited President Donald Trump at the White House on November 21, where the two former online adversaries found common ground on issues like crime, rent, and affordable housing. They posed together in front of Frank O. Salisbury's portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt, which Trump claimed to have rediscovered in White House vaults, though it was previously hung by President Joe Biden. The article traces the history of Salisbury's 1935 painting and its copies, including the official White House version commissioned by Harry S. Truman in 1947.

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gavel restitution schedule Nov 21, 2025 visibility 16 link 17 artists

brueghel mayken verhulst

Recent evidence suggests that Mayken Verhulst (ca. 1518–1599), the mother-in-law of Pieter Brueghel the Elder, authored works long attributed to the anonymous Brunswick Monogrammist. A key painting, *Ecce Homo* from the National Museum in Gdańsk, bears a unique double signature combining the initials of her husband, Pieter Coecke van Aelst, with her family name “Bessemer,” indicating her authorial role within the workshop. This discovery, detailed in an essay from the exhibition *The Woman Question 1550–2025* at the Museum of Modern Art Warsaw, challenges centuries of art-historical attribution.

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article local schedule Nov 17, 2025 visibility 16 link 4 artists

elizabeth street garden eric adams zohran mamdani

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has permanently designated the Elizabeth Street Garden in Manhattan's Nolita neighborhood as public parkland, blocking plans for affordable housing on the site. The move comes just weeks before Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani takes office, who had campaigned on building affordable housing for older adults on the lot. The garden, a one-acre green space managed by executive director Joseph Reiver since 1991, had previously faced eviction under Adams before he abandoned the housing project in June. Mamdani now needs state legislature approval to pursue any development on the land.

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trending_up market schedule Nov 7, 2025 visibility 13 link 1 artist

rare dinosaur skeleton christies auction

Christie’s will auction a rare 68-million-year-old Caenagnathid dinosaur skeleton nicknamed 'Spike' at its inaugural 'Groundbreakers: Icons of Our Time' sale in London on December 11. Discovered in 2022, the sub-adult specimen is one of the most complete of its kind, with over 100 preserved fossil bones, and may represent a new species. It is estimated to fetch between £3 million and £5 million ($4 million to $6.6 million), marking the first time a Caenagnathid Oviraptorosaur has been offered at auction.

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article news schedule Oct 28, 2025 visibility 10 link 1 artist

inca building acoustics huaytara peru

A 15th-century Inca building in Huaytará, Peru, known as a carpa uasi or tent house, may have been designed to amplify low-frequency sounds like drumming. Art historian Stella Nair of UCLA, along with acoustic experts led by Stanford professor Jonathan Berger, is studying the structure's unique three-walled design to understand its acoustic properties. The building survived because a Christian church was built on top of it, stabilizing the stone structure.

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article news schedule Oct 15, 2025 visibility 15 link 1 artist

san francisco may destroy vaillancourt fountain in redevelopment plan

San Francisco is considering destroying the Brutalist Vaillancourt Fountain by Armand Vaillancourt as part of a redevelopment plan for Embarcadero Plaza. City officials, including Recreation and Park Commission general manager Phil Ginsburg, have discussed the redevelopment for over a decade, and the San Francisco Arts Commission is preparing to vote on deaccessioning the fountain. The fountain, completed in 1971, has been fenced off since June 2024 due to safety concerns and has not had running water since then, with repairs estimated at $28.9 million.

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article news schedule Sep 10, 2025 visibility 14 link 3 artists

danielle seewalker palestine painting lawsuit settlement

Danielle SeeWalker, a Húŋkpapȟa Lakȟóta artist and citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, settled a lawsuit with Vail, Colorado, after the town canceled her artist residency in 2023. The cancellation followed her posting of a pro-Palestine painting titled "G for Genocide" on Instagram, which linked Palestinian and Indigenous liberation movements. The American Civil Liberties Union sued Vail on her behalf, alleging First Amendment violations. Under the settlement, SeeWalker may hold a powwow in Vail for five years, and the town will host a non-public community forum on Israel and Palestine involving Jewish, Palestinian, Muslim, and other community leaders.

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article news schedule Aug 28, 2025 visibility 14 link 11 artists

anonymous was a woman the new york foundation for the arts environmental art grants 2025

Anonymous Was A Woman (AWAW) and the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) have awarded $521,125 in grants to 29 environmental art projects led by women-identifying artists from the United States and its territories. The grants, up to $20,000 each, require a public engagement component to be completed by August 2026. Recipients include artists such as Heidi K. Brandow, Charlotte Brathwaite, Cara Romero, and collectives like BEAM and DeepTime Collective, working across locations from California to Senegal and South Korea.

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trending_up market schedule Aug 26, 2025 visibility 11 link 2 artists

sothebys fee structure trump tariffs

A New Yorker profile of Sotheby's and its billionaire owner Patrick Drahi reveals the chaotic aftermath of the auction house's failed 2024 fee restructuring. The plan, announced in February 2024 and enacted that May, standardized seller's commissions and buyer's premiums but backfired, driving away business and causing profits to plummet. By December, Sotheby's reversed course. The article quotes former and current employees who compare Drahi's management style to Donald Trump's tariff disputes, and recounts a tense June 2024 meeting where contemporary art chairman Grégoire Billault told Drahi he was losing business, only to be told by Drahi that everyone is replaceable.

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